EPISODE 29 – JULIE COLE – ON HOW THE RIGHT BUSINESS PARTNERS CAN HELP YOU MOVE FORWARD, BEING COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE AND WHY YOU SHOULDN’T TAKE YOURSELF SO SERIOUSLY

Today we are talking to Julie Cole, Entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Mabel’s Labels and Author of Like a Mother.

Julie started out her career as a lawyer but made the leap into entrepreneurship with not one but three co-founders. In 2003, four mom’s that were frustrated by their children’s things getting lost, mixed up and leaving home to never return, designed, and developed the very best personalized waterproof name labels and tags. They wanted to make the lives of all mom’s and women easier.

Mabel’s Labels started as a basement made business that included making labels until 2 am many nights, taking calculated risks and putting in a lot of sweat equity. These four women rolled up their sleeves and got to work making Mabel’s Labels an award-winning, market-leading company loved by moms in every neighborhood. They had grown to be such a player that in 2015 the most well known label maker in the world approached them and offered to buy them a meal. That dinner was the start of Mabel’s Labels being acquired by CCL (think Avery Labels) for over 12 million dollars. This is what many entrepreneurs dream of.

Julie Cole remains as a Senior Director at Mabel’s labels but don’t kid yourself, this fierce say it like it is woman, who is the mom to 6 children and seems to have an endless amount of energy continues to blog and has been featured in The Globe and Mail, Profit Magazine, Today’s Parent, and countless other publications. She is a regular television contributor, keynote speaker, and an engaged community member that supports so many charitable causes. Julie has won many awards for her contributions and efforts in business including the RBC Women Entrepreneur Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship and Profit/Chatelaine W100 just to name a few.

During the pandemic, when many were slowing down Julie decided to switch gears to put time and effort into writing that long awaited book, Like a Mother, where she shares her inspirational stories and lessons learned through parenting her lively crew of kids and building a multi-million-dollar business with her co-founders.

I loved this discussion with Julie. She is so open and honest about all things business and shares practical information about what is really like to own and operate a business with friends and family. She also shares the journey of selling the business but choosing to stay on as an employee.

I am sure you will find more than one or two things to take away from this podcast.

In this episode, Julie and I discuss the following:

• • • Benefits of growing up, working, and living in Nova Scotia
    • What it is like to start a business with your friends and family
    • Importance of getting the right documentation in place early in the process
    • Figuring out how to divide tasks among four founders and the benefits of starting a business with others
    • Challenges of starting an ecommerce business 20 years ago
    • How ecommerce has changed over time
    • Why you need to be comfortable being uncomfortable
    • The biggest challenges for entrepreneurs when growing a business to the next level
    • How to become and stay a market leader in your industry
    • How and why Mabel’s Labels pivoted during COVID
    • How to create an intrapreneurial team
    • Making the decision to sell your business and figuring out how to explain it to employees
    • Challenges of going through due diligence
    • Transitioning from being an owner and founder to an employee and how it can go really well
    • Making the decision to write a book during the pandemic and what the writing process was like
    • Tools that you can use to help you with blog writing and capturing ideas
    • Launching a book and reaching Best Seller status
    • Who Mom’s want to buy from
    • Why everyone has a personal brand and how it can help to elevate your business
    • What helped her be able to start a business
    • How entrepreneurship is based on privilege
    • Value of having a supportive partner and how they can help you
    • How entrepreneurship gets romanticized vs what it really looks like
    • How business partners can help provide emotional support
    • Why it is important to belong to masterminds and network with other entrepreneurs
    • Finding the right solutions to solve your problems
    • How to use social media to build a strong community
    • Why business is personal
    • Managing the mother load
    • Why you shouldn’t take yourself so seriously

If you would like more information on Julie, you can visit:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliecoleinc/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mabelslabels/

Website: http://www.mabelslabels.ca

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Mabelhood/

Info About the Book – Like a Mother: https://ygtmedia-company.myshopify.com/products/like-a-mother-by-julie-cole-presale

Listen to this podcast on Spotify, Google Podcast, iTunes or click play below to stream it.

If you have a minute, leave a short review here, or send me an email to tell me what other guests I should have on the podcast.